diff --git a/src/rpc/virnettlscontext.c b/src/rpc/virnettlscontext.c
index 2a58ede131..be082074cb 100644
--- a/src/rpc/virnettlscontext.c
+++ b/src/rpc/virnettlscontext.c
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ static int virNetTLSContextCheckCertKeyPurpose(gnutls_x509_crt_t cert,
     int i;
     unsigned int purposeCritical;
     unsigned int critical;
-    char *buffer;
+    char *buffer = NULL;
     size_t size;
     bool allowClient = false, allowServer = false;